Chair and method of upholstering



Sept. 26, 1961 5. J. WIENER 3,001,824

CHAIR AND METHOD OF UPI-IOLSTERING Filed Aug. 25, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR.

i E g ATTORNEY.

Sept. 26, 1961 s. J. WIENER 3,001,824

CHAIR AND METHOD OF UPHOLSTERING Filed Aug. 25, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 0 "Q zzsztm IN V EN TOR.

5 -jwnes M'encn ATTORNEY.

CHAIR AND METHOD OF urrrorsrsanvo Seymour James Wiener, 3730 NW. 54th St., Miami, Fla.

Filed Aug. 25, 1960, Ser. No. 51,985 1 Claim. (Cl. 297-458) This invention relates to an improved method of upholstering a chair back and seat, and the novel product resulting therefrom.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide novel means for joining the upholstery material to a chair back or seat, which will result in a finished product of beautiful appearance, strong and durable construction, which is economical to manufacture, and permits unusual designs to be achieved, heretofore impossible in the prior Another object of this invention is to provide a novel means of joining the upholstery to ;a chair back or seat along the center line of the outer peripheral edge thereof in a manner whereby the upholstery does not extend over any part of the back or seat.

Still another object is to provide a novel means of joining the upholstery to the outer peripheral edge of a wooden back or seat of a chair in a manner whereby a portion of the wood of the peripheral edge thereof remains uncovered.

A further object is to provide means for securely fixing the outer edge of the upholstery of a chair back or seat to the bottom of a groove formed along the peripheral edge of the back or seat.

Yet another object is to provide novel means for joining upholstery to the peripheral edge of a curved, oval, elliptic, ovoid, or other unusual shaped panel chair seat or back made of wood or other relatively non-flexible material without extending it completely over the entire Width of the peripheral edge.

It is to be understood that although this invention is described as applied to a chair seat and back, it is equally applicable to a bench, settee, sofa, chaise longue, or other types and styles of furniture where all of the advantages and new and useful results of this novel process and product may similarly be obtained.

One embodiment of the instant furniture article produced by this process is set forth in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a complete chair, including a seat and back upholstered in accordance with the process and method of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged edge view of the seat of the chair, taken along the line 2, as indicated by the arrow in FIGURE 1, one half of the view indicating the seat before upholstery, and the other half showing the upholstery applied;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged detail cross-section of a portion of the peripheral edge of the chair seat, taken along the line 3--3 of FIGURE 2, before the upholstery has been applied;

FIGURE 4 is a similar enlarged detail cross-section of a portion of the peripheral edge of the chair seat illustrating the upholstery applied but not yet trimmed, a portion of the end of a trimming knife is includedj FIGURE 5 is an enlarged detail cross-section similar to FIGURE 4, taken on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 1, after the excess upholsteryhas been trimmed, and

FIGURE 6 is a similar cross-section illustrating the finish beading in position.

Referring now to the chair and method of upholstering it in accordance with the teachings of this invention in detail and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views, there is illustrated in FIGURE 1 a chair,-

indicated generally by the numeral 10, which is an example of the product resulting from the use of the int-- proved and novel method of upholstery described herein;

It will be noted that the contour of the seat and back is curved and shaped in a continuous flowing peripheral line.

In the chair 10, illustrated in the drawings, it all be noted that the back 11 is of wood, as is the seat 12. They may be made of plywood, which can be steam pressed by a process well known in the art, to any desired curvature,j

which, in this case, resembles an oyster shell. It is pos sible by the use of the process of this invention, to up-- holster, with excellent results, curved, oval and other contours and shapes with unusual facility and obtain smooth,

neat, trim'results.

The first step in the process, after the steam press curving and the peripheral contour cutting of the wooden upholstered. This groove may be of any desired width and depth, and its side walls may be tapered or straight.

A foam rubber or other desirable resilient padding or cushion 15 is fixed to the inner curved surface of the back 11 or seat 12 by cement or otherwise.

Next, the upholstery material 16 is stretched by the operator over the resilient padding or cushion 15, it first being cut to a similar outline, as that of the back or seat to be upholstered but slightly larger in area so. that it will extend beyond the entire peripheral edge thereof. The operator then fastens the upholstery material 16 to the bottom of the groove 14, which may be fairly deep, by stitching brads or nails along a portion of the peripheral edge. See FIGURE 4. This may be accomplished with a pneumatic stitching device, such as is well known in the art, or any other suitable method of fastening may be employed.

The operator then stretches the upholstery material 16 tightly across the resilient padding 15, and similarly fastens the upholstery material 16 to the bottom of the peripheral groove 14 on the opposite side of the portion first fastened. Next, the remaining edges of the material 16 are pulled snugly and smoothly into place and fixed to the bottom of the groove 14.

The operator may choose to Work the upholstery 16 into smooth, snug engagement in any desired procedure as to sides or directions of approach. When this step is finished, the upholstery is now securely fastened to the bottom of the peripheral groove 14 by the stitching nails 17, which are set at relatively close intervals, as.

desired (see FIGURE 2), and it is so fixed around the entire peripheral edge at the bottom of the groove 14.. This is so regardless of the securing means employed.

As shown in FIGURE 4, the upholstery material 16 extends beyond the outer peripheral edge of the seat 12 or back 11, and beyond the bottom of the groove '14 to which it is securely fastened.

This arrangement makes it extremely easy for a semiskilled operator to trim off the overhanging surplus, indicated by the numeral 18, by the use of a sharp knife 19. side of the knife 19 on the inner side of the edge of the groove as a guide, and follow the contour of the peripheral groove 14, as shown.

When the excess upholstery material 18 has been removed by trimming wi-th the knife 19 below the outer peripheral edge of the Wooden back 11 and seat 12, as shown in FIGURE 5, it is apparent that a portion of the outer peripheral edge of the wooden back 11 and seat 12 will be exposed entirely around the back and seat.

The last step is the application of a head 20, which Patented Sept. 26,

It is easy to rest the smooth non-cutting.

r 3 is covered with the same upholstery material 16, as shown in FIGURE 6 and FIGURE 1 of the drawings. This bead 20 is for finishing and dressing up the job, and'may be secured in posi tion with cement, which is applied to the bottom of the groove 14 over the stitching nails 17, or other fastening means used.

This finishing bead may include a tongue 21, which depends downwardly into the groove 14 to readily contact the bottom, if desired.

I claim:

An upholstered laterally curved chair back or seat having a shape conforming substantially to a section of an ovoidal form comprising a rigid wooden member, a groove formed in the center of the peripheral edge of said member which extends entirely around the periphery thereof, said groove being formed along the center line of said peripheral edge and being of a width exceeding one-half the thickness of said member, and being at least as deep as the width of said groove, and of substantial width at the bottom of the groove, and adapted to receive the upholstery material and stitching nails at said bottom, the upholstery material covering one face of said and matching material asthe I A member and the inner peripheral edge of one side of said groove and extending into being securely fastened to the wide bottom of said groove, the outer peripheral edge on the other side of said groove and the other face of said member being plain and uncovered, and a finishing strip having a cross-sectional area with the dimension of said finishing strip depthwise of said groove not substantially less than the maximum dimension of said finishing strip widthwise of said groove.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,473,098 Hollenbeck et 'al. Nov. 6, 1923 2,151,628 7 Van Deweer Mar. 21, 1939' 2,333,311 Greitzer Nov. 2, 1943' 2,541,835 Saarinen Feb. 13, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS a 151,575 Great Britain Sept. 30, 1920 1,098,882 France Mar. 9, 1955 1,228,074 France Mar. 14, 1960 

